Sock drier



Oct. 12, 1948. w, FQUKE 2,451,208

SOCK DRIER 7 Filed Aug. 26, 1946 Alma/7'0? GEORGE W. FOUKE 6 7 TOIPA/E) Patented Oct. 12, 1948 George W. Fouke, St. Louis, Mo., assig-nor to Leeltowan. Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application August 26, 1946, Serial No. 6533;022

4 Claims.

This invention relates to sock dryers, particularly to such a device for use in drying socks of Wool or other shrinkable material.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a drwer which is adjustable to fit a sock of any size, and to enable the sock while drying to retain that size without danger of shrinkage. This adjustable feature also makes it unnecessary to keep a supply of dryers on hand to fit different sizes of socks, but, on the contrary, a single pair of my dryers will suffice for use in drying a variety of socks which have a substantial range in sizes. Another feature of my dryer is that its construction permits air to circulate freely both around and through all parts of the sock, thus considerably diminishing the required drying time. The dryer is of simple construction and may be cheaply produced, and can be adjusted to different sizes with the minimum of time and effort.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my sock dryer illustrating in dotted lines an adjustment to fit a larger size sock than the full line drawing.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly broken away, illustrating the adjusting mechav nism of my sock dryer.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the adjusting mechanism taken on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4, Fig. 2, through a portion of the adjusting mechanism.

The invention comprises sections l and 2, which are preferably of cylindrical metal formation, the section l being bent to form a heel 3 and the section 2 being bent opposite the heel 3, as at 4, to conform to the shape of a foot, the sections l and 2 terminating, respectively, at the points 5 and 6, as shown in Fig. 1.

A foot portion 1, formed of tubular metal of slightly larger diameter than the sections l and 2, is slidably mounted on said sections l and 2 by slipping the free ends of the foot portion 1 over the ends 5 and 6, on which said foot portion is slidable.

A bracing member 8, also of cylindrical metal formation, extends between the sections l and 2 from the heel 3 to the bend 4, and at a point near its upper portion said bracing member 3 is slightly flattened to provide a broader section 9 from side to side, and an aperture ll! is cut through said broad section 9, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4.

An adjusting rod I l' extends from the front of the foot portion 1 backwardly and through the aperture II], in which it is slidable. At its forward end the adjusting rod 1 l is hook-shaped, as shown at l2, and is secured. to the foot portion by in.- serting said hook into an aperture l3v in theinner wall of the foot portion 1.. As mentioned above, the adjustingrod' I l extends through the aperture 1 0 in the bracing member, and in the portion of said adjusting rod. which projects beyond the aperture Ill a series of recesses I4 is cut at its bot-- tom edge, for a purpose which will be later set forth. At the. free end of said adjusting rod l I it is provided with a. suitable retaining button. IE, or. the like, to keep it from slipping. through the aperture 10.

A coil spring I6 surrounds the upper portion of the bracing member 8 and extends from the top edge of the adjusting rod II to the bend 4 in the section I. At its upper end the sock dryer is preferably provided with a hook I! by which it may be suspended for drying in any convenient place.

In operation the procedure is as follows: The foot portion 1 is inserted into the foot of the sock to be dried. The adjusting rod II is raised in the aperture l0 and pushed forward, which has the effect of extending the foot portion Idue to its attachment to the rod l I through the hook l2, and which also institutes forward sliding movement of the foot portion 1 on the ends 5 and B of the sections l and 2. The forward push is continued until the foot portion I has been extended to stretch the sock to the desired size, at which time the rod H is permitted to drop so that the bracing member 8 engages the nearest recess H5 in said adjusting rod, as shown most clearly at l8 in Fig. 4.

The coil spring 16, which was retracted by the upward pressure of the raised rod ll when it was being pushed forward, is released when the above engagement has been made between the rod II and the bracing member 8 through one of its recesses [4, so that now pressure of the coil spring I6 upon said rod ll serves to maintain said engagement, thus preventing accidental displacement of the last-mentioned parts.

Obviously, the larger size sock to be dried, the greater the forward push on the rod l l', the principal being the same whatever size sock is being dried. When the above adjustment has been made, the leg of the sock is pulled up over the sections I and 2 of the dryer, which may then be hung to dry in a suitable location.

I claim:

1. A sock dryer comprising a leg portion and an extensible foot portion, a rigid adjusting member for extending said foot portion, an element positioned transversely of said dryer and in engagement with said adjusting member, said adjusting member being provided with means for ment positioned transversely of said dryer and in engagement with said adjusting member through its transverse aperture, said adjusting member being provided with means for retaining it in engagement with said apertured ele-' ment, and compressible means for exerting pressure to maintain all of said parts in adjusted position.

3. A sock dryer comprising a leg portion and an extensible foot portion slidably mounted on said leg portion, a rigid adjusting member extending longitudinally of said dryer and attached to said foot portion for instituting sliding movement thereof on said leg portion, an apertured element extending transversely of said dryer and connecting its heel and instep portions for engagernent with said adjusting member through its aperture, said adjusting member being provided with means for retaining it in engagement with said apertured element, and a coil spring for exerting pressure to maintain all of said parts in adjusted position.

4. A sock dryer comprising a leg portion and a' foot portion slidably mounted thereon, an apertured bracing member extending transversely of said dryer and connecting its heel and instep portions, a rigid adjusting rod detachably secured to said foot portion and extending through the aperture of said bracing member and adapted to institute sliding movement of said foot portion to extend the same, said adjusting rod being provided with retaining means for engagement With the apertured portion of said bracing member, and a coil spring extending between said adjusting rod and the instep portion of said dryer and surrounding said bracing member and adapted to hold all of said parts in adjusted position through pressure exerted upon said adjusting rod.

GEORGE W. FOUKE.

REFERENCES CITED 7 The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

